In a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter, sometimes referred to simply as “a light-sensitive material”) for subtractive color photography, a color image is formed by dyes of three primary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan. In the color photography that uses a current p-phenylenediamine-series color-developing agent, an acylacetoanilide-series compound is used as a yellow coupler. However, the hue of the yellow dyes obtained from these yellow couplers becomes reddish, due to an inferior sharpness of a peak of the absorption curve at the longer wavelength side (that is, on the absorption curve, the peak in interest has subsidiary absorption at its foot portion at the longer wavelength side), which renders it difficult to obtain a yellow hue with high purity. Further, because the molecular extinction coefficient of the yellow dyes is low, it is necessary, to attain a desired color density, to use larger amounts of both of the coupler and the silver halide. The use of such larger amounts of these components raises the problem that the resulting increase in thickness of a light-sensitive material sometimes lowers the sharpness of the obtained color image. Further, accompanying sensitivity enhancement of a color photosensitive material in recent years, static-induced fog often occurs at the time of shooting with or producing of the color photosensitive material. Therefore, it has been desired to solve the problem.
In order to solve such the problems, improvement of acyl groups and anilido groups were proposed on the couplers. Recently, as improved couplers of the conventional acylacetoanilide-series, there were proposed, for example, 1-alkylcyclopropanecarbonyl acetoanilide-series compounds, described in JP-A-4-218042 (“JP-A” means unexamined published Japanese patent application); cyclomalonic acid diamide-type couplers, described in JP-A-5-11416; pyrrole-2- or 3-yl- or indole-2- or 3-yl-carbonylacetoanilide-series couplers, described in, for example, European Patent Nos. 953870A1, 953871A1, 953872A1, 953873A1, 953874A1 and 953875A1. The dyes formed from these couplers were improved in terms of both of hue and molecular extinction coefficient of dyes formed, compared with the conventional ones. However, they are not satisfactory in image stability still. Further, owing to their complicated chemical structure, the synthesis route became longer, and consequently cost of the couplers became higher, causing a practical problem. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,880, JP-A-52-82423 and JP-A-2-28645 propose acetate ester-series and acetoanilide-series couplers to which 1,2,4-benzothiadiazine-1,1-dioxide is bonded. However, these couplers are low in color-forming property, and they are inferior in sharpness of a peak of the absorption curve owing to the foot portion on the longer wavelength side. Therefore, improvement of these properties has been desired. As a preventive measure for static-induced fog, it is known, for example, to add an ultraviolet-ray absorber (UV agent) to a protecting layer of a light-sensitive material, as described in JP-A-6-130549. However, when an amount of the UV agent to be used is increased for the purpose for further improving a property for preventing static-induced fog, the film thickness of the resulting light-sensitive material becomes to be thick, to cause deterioration of sharpness of an image and (rapid) processability, which is not preferable.
Silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials have been widely used until today as materials that are inexpensive, have stable quality, and provide an image with high quality. However, there is an increased demand by users for image quality enhancement, enhancement in stability of quality, and enhancement in productivity. As to the demand for image quality enhancement, improvements in whiteness, color reproducibility, and sharpness are demanded. As to the demand for enhancement in stability of quality, it is required to improve stability in the production of a light-sensitive material, stability during storage with the lapse of time in an unexposed state, and performance stability during development processing. Also, as to improving productivity, processing speed enhancement is strongly required.
Particularly, color reproducibility is important for photographic light-sensitive materials, such as color papers and color reversals, used for direct appreciation. To improve color reproducibility, first, it is necessary for the dye formed by a coupling reaction between a dye-forming coupler (hereinafter also referred to simply as a coupler) and an oxidized product of a developing agent, to itself be reduced in unnecessary absorption and have good absorbing characteristics. Further, in addition to the above, it is also important for, for example, remaining color due to a sensitizing dye, an irradiation-preventing dye, or the like, to be less, and fogging to be less.
To sufficiently exhibit color reproducibility of the formed dye, it is important for a light-sensitive material to be stable during development processing. Also, to sufficiently exhibit color reproducibility of the formed dye, it is important for 1) the change in performance of a light-sensitive material during storage in an unexposed state, to be small, and 2) a light-sensitive material to be stable during development processing. Also, if a dye image after processing is stable, a high-quality photographic image can be stored for a long period of time.
Particularly, technologies for the purpose to attain a reduction in the amount of a silver halide emulsion in a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, and to form a thin layer of a light-sensitive material, are demanded, from the viewpoint of improving productivity.
In recent years, in the field of photographic processing services, a photographic light-sensitive material that can be processed rapidly and form a high-quality image is demanded as part of improvement of service to users and as means for improving productivity. To respond to this demand, currently, a rapid processing is usually carried out in which a photographic light-sensitive material containing a high silver chloride emulsion (hereinafter, also referred to as “high silver chloride printing material”) is processed in 45 seconds for a color developing time, and in about 4 minutes for a total processing time of from the start of the developing step to the completion of the drying step (for example, Color Processing CP-48S (trade name) or the like, manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.). However, as compared with the rapidity of making images by other color image making methods (for example, an electrostatic transfer method, a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method), it cannot be said that even this rapid development processing system for high silver chloride printing materials provides a satisfactory rapidity. For this reason, there are demands for a super-rapid processing, of which the total processing time from the start of development of and the completion of drying of a high silver chloride color printing material, is on the level of below 1 minute.
Therefore, in the art of this field, various studies on means to improve super-rapid processing suitability and efforts for achieving it have been made. For example, as means for improving super-rapid processing suitability, (1) reduction in the coating amount of an organic material by adoption of a highly active coupler and a coupler giving a high molecular extinction coefficient of a coloring dye, and reduction in the coating amount of a hydrophilic binder, (2) adoption of a silver halide emulsion having a high development speed, and the like, have been studied. Also, a method for increasing the development speed by coating a silver halide emulsion layer having the lowest color-development speed (corresponding to the yellow coupler-containing layer in conventional color printing materials) on a more distant side from the support than other silver halide emulsion layers containing other couplers, has been known. This method has been proposed in, for example, JP-A-7-239538 and JP-A-7-239539.
Further, a method for enhancing a development speed, in which the position of a yellow coupler-containing layer is set on a relatively distant side from the support than at least one of a silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta coupler and a silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan coupler in order to make the developing agent easily permeate through the layer containing a yellow coupler that has a low color-developing speed, and, in addition, in which the amount of a hydrophilic binder is reduced, has been proposed in JP-A-2000-284428. However, locating the layer containing a yellow coupler upper than at least one of the layer containing a magenta coupler and the layer containing a cyan coupler without taking into consideration the balance among the coupling activities in the color forming layers, results in that the coupler coupling fails to win the competition with the color-mixing preventing layer, so that an oxidized product of a color-developing agent is lost. Actually, silver saving on the ultimate level has not been achieved yet. Use of thinner layers for rapid processing by reducing the amount of binder without taking into consideration the balance between the utilization efficiency of an oxidized product of a color-developing agent and the coupling activity, lowers the protective colloid function of the binder, and causes failure in image storability such as causing blurring of a color image.
Furthermore, according to JP-A-2-298936, the relative coupling rate of a yellow coupler and the dielectric constant of oil droplets are controlled by coemulsifying the yellow coupler with a cyan coupler. However, increasing the activity of the yellow coupler alone is undesirable in view of the balance, and has disadvantages in that the color mixing preventing layer must be thicker than ever, stain tends to occur due to the developing agent, and the like. Also, in the technique in which the relative coupling activity is controlled, co-emulsification results in an increase in the volume of oil droplets, which varies the amount of the developing agent incorporated, so that in some cases, the activity cannot be estimated exactly.
Also, in JP-A-5-303182, proposed is a method in which a pyrrolotriazole-type cyan coupler is applied to arrange between a color-forming layer containing a yellow coupler and a color-forming layer containing a magenta coupler, from the viewpoint of balance of coupling activities. However, the intention of the present invention is not satisfied by this method, because the amount of oil soluble contents in a high-boiling organic solvent dispersing therein the pyrrolotriazole-type cyan coupler is small and the activity in the oil droplets is low.